Riding on scintillating centuries by Prithvi Shaw and Hanuma Vihari, India A scored a crushing 203-run victory over West Indies A to make the final of the Tri-Series one-day tournament, in Northampton, on Friday.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been laid low by sports hernia, the latest in a series of injuries, which kept him out of the recent One-day series against West Indies.
CSK would be hoping to pick up two more points against Delhi Capitals, who have struggled in the tournament for the most part.
Suresh Raina is like a "son" to him but Chennai Super Kings owner Narayanswami Srinivasan on Wednesday said the all-rounder's return to the side this IPL season after an unanticipated pull out would be decided by the team management led by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
With Ravindra Jadeja unavailable because of injury, will India include the left-handed Rishabh Pant over Dinesh Karthik who is a designated finisher in the squad?
IMAGES from the Indian Premier League-12 final played between Mumbai and Chennai in Hyderabad on Sunday
Images from Friday's IPL match between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians, in Chennai.
Many seniors including captain Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul are all set to be rested for the upcoming five-match T20I series against South Africa, with an eye on the marquee tour of England in July.
The toss is always an important factor in Chennai as chasing anything above 170 to 175 could be a risky proposition.
It is a 'little tough' to cool his heels after a couple of games but Axar Patel wants to put his best foot forward in his bid to use every opportunity that comes along his way at the international level.
The 34-year-old was India's number one Test wicket-keeper until a career-threatening shoulder injury ruled him out of action for almost a year.
This season, franchises like the Lucknow Super Giants have revamped their kits while teams like the Chennai Super Kings and Punjab Kings XI were satisfied with minor modifications.
The only problem for India in the Asia Cup so far has been lack of batting time for the likes of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Kedar Jadhav and Dinesh Karthik.
Captain Virat Kohli led India to a resounding seven-wicket win over South Africa in the second T20 International with an unbeaten half-century, in Mohali, on Wednesday.
How the IPL teams have shaped up after the auction.
Unless they getting their batting and bowling woes sorted out soon, the 2023 World Cup looks another distant dream for the Men in Blue.
Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane's position in group A of the BCCI central contracts could be up for deliberation
Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni says 250 would have been closer to par given the way Rajasthan Royals' batter were going, in Saturday's IPL match in Abu Dhabi.
'My lines to the players was that we have got good runs on the board but let's be humble'
'I thought we bowled well in the powerplay. The spinners bowled good lengths, with the googlies and leggies, building a lot of pressure'
Openers Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw hit quickfire fifties as they put on a decisive opening stand of 138 runs from just 81 balls, completely exposing the lack of depth in the CSK bowling.
Rahane dropped anchor to score an unbeaten 144 off 156 balls while the young Ishan Kishan smashed his way to an 87-ball 114 during their opening stand of 210, which took the C team's score to 352 for seven in 50 overs.
Dhoni has said his team's tremendous 'experience' proved to be a crucial factor in its five-wicket victory
The BCCI doesn't want to leave anything to chance as far as safety of players and officials is concerned and the healthcare workers have been put in a separate hotel.
With the ball difficult to grip, the pacers had a tough time but once the spinners started operating India started to peg things back a little.
Sikandar Raza's lion-hearted effort took Zimbabwe on the cusp of a famous victory before India held their nerves to pull off a 13-run win in the third ODI and complete a series sweep in Harare on Monday.
India captain Shikhar Dhawan was all praise for Prithvi Shaw and Ishan Kishan after an easy victory over Sei Lanka in the first ODI on Sunday.
It is more likely that Australia series will mark Bumrah's return to competitive cricket after four months, having recovered from stress fracture.
Dhoni would be the centre of discussion amid speculation that the Jharkhand player is contemplating retirement even though he hasn't spoken about it till now.
Mayank Agarwal has been in top form in Test cricket and he could carry that form into the limited overs series if picked in the playing XI. The Karnataka cricketer is currently playing in the Ranji Trophy and will join the national squad before the opening ODI.
Images from the second T20 International between India and New Zealand, in Ranchi, on Friday.
'It's a big setback. Every player dreams to play in the World Cup, not just play but win it as well'
In the last 13 months, India have played the West Indies in six T20 Internationals with the hosts coming up trumps every single time.
India will need their bowlers, especially Harshal and Chahal, to overcome their struggles ahead of the T20 World Cup.
The under-pressure Chennai Super Kings is set to miss Moeen Ali for a few more games due to an ankle injury but head coach Stephen Fleming is hopeful the England all-rounder can make a quick recovery in a week's time.
To everyone's surprise, the team management didn't play him during the high-scoring first T20I in Mohali, raising doubts whether he has still attained peak fitness or not.
Rohit Sharma will be looking to get his act together as batter and skipper when his star-studded Mumbai Indians take on an astute Mahendra Singh Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings in what could be safely billed as a Saturday night IPL blockbuster.
Mumbai Indians have won three out of the four IPL finals they have been part of, including the two against CSK in 2013 and 2015.
India's white ball players have that imposing alpha-male like presence out there in the middle even if their best player Kohli is on the wane.
Opting to bat after winning the toss, India A declared their first innings after some useful contributions from the lower-order batsmen. The visitors were 340 for five at stumps on the opening day at the Bay Oval.
